EUV Symposium report card: EUV’s past, present, and future

October 28, 2011 – Two Wall Street analysts report their impressions from last week’s EUV Symposium (Oct. 17-19 in Miami), where companies in the EUV supply chain reported their latest results and planned progress through 2012. And don’t look now but there’s a competition brewing in source power.

Chipmakers and suppliers have figured out tricks to keep pushing optical litho (193nm) and seem prepared to do so through the 2Xnm nodes using immersion (2nd-gen), multiple patterning (double, triple, or even more), and design-for-manufacturing techniques. But to stay on Moore’s Law at 1Xnm and below, the industry needs EUV –and lack of acceptable progress is making chipmakers increasingly uneasy. First and foremost, throughput issues need to improve dramatically, which means primarily getting light sources up to snuff. (Other areas of EUV have been "largely resolved," from resists to reticles to optical quality.) Throughput is still in the low teens, and although ASML and partners have recast promises of ~60 wafers/hour by mid-2012 and 100WPH by end of next year (seen as the baseline for economically viable volume manufacturing), that’s about a year and a half beyond original expectations, and there’s mounting frustration at the progressive baby steps. "[The] "roadmap slip for EUV sources must stop," Barclays’ CJ Muse quotes one BACUS attendee as saying.

FEATURED PRODUCTS

TECHNOLOGY PAPERS

Keysight Technologies’ popular 276-page Parametric Measurement Handbook is an invaluable reference tool for anyone performing device or process characterization. It is filled with tips to help both novice and advanced users, and the latest edition (Rev 4) includes an entirely new section devoted to power device test.February 27, 2019Sponsored by Keysight Technologies

Traditional root cause analysis in manufacturing uses summary data, which is ineffective in the face of complex issues stemming from subtle defects in a process. Full trace analytics, backed by powerful Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) algorithms, uses the entirety of all the sensor and tool data available in a production line for analysis, enabling fabrication engineers to quickly and accurately focus on the causes of issues that negatively affect yield, large and small.February 07, 2019Sponsored by BISTel

WEBCASTS

The semiconductor industry is an acknowledged global leader in promoting environmental sustainability in the design, manufacture, and use of its products, as well as the health and safety of its operations and impacts on workers in semiconductor facilities (fabs). We will examine trends and concerns related to emissions, chemical use, energy consumption and worker safety and health.

Extension Media websites place cookies on your device to give you the best user experience. By using our websites, you agree to placement of these cookies and to our Privacy Policy. Please click here to accept.